Che Jun, Party chief of Zhejiang province, delivers a government report at the second session of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress in Hangzhou on Jan 27. [Photo/chinanews.com.cn]

Hangzhou, a digital hub in East China's Zhejiang province, is expected to be a frontrunner in the nation's digital economy, said Che Jun, Party chief of Zhejiang province at a conference on Jan 27.

According to Che, Hangzhou should step up efforts to promote the application of digital technology in the manufacturing, service and agricultural sectors, build up its weaknesses in integrated circuits, network communication equipment and flexible electronics, while accelerating digitalization in administrative services.

Wang Jian, Alibaba Group's chief architect and founder of Alibaba Cloud believes that the digitalization of urban management has great potential in the era. Last year, Hangzhou's "City Brain" solution, an intelligent system for urban management using artificial intelligence technology, has been extended to the housing, public security, tourism and environmental protection sectors.

In 2018, Hangzhou's economy experienced historic growth, with its GDP projected to surpass 1 trillion yuan ($147.8 billion), up 7 percent year on year, making Hangzhou the 10th city in the nation to join the "1 trillion yuan club", backed by its digital economy.

Statistics reveals that the added value of the core industries of the city's digital economy is expected to see a 15 percent increase to 332 billion yuan.

Other than that, Che also urged Hangzhou to be actively involved in the integration of the Yangtze River Delta region and provide people-oriented services for its residents.

The second session of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress commences in Hangzhou on Jan 27. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]